Pictures Of The Week

Week 4, January 2015

Clockwise from top left:

As the nights begin to stretch out, February and March is also the time when warbirds begin emerge from their hangars following winter maintenance. Finally resplendent in her new colours is a warbird much missed from the circuit. P-51D, formerly "Old Crow" has been absent for a few seasons now, and UKAR's very own Dan Ledwood was at Bournemouth to capture this fine shot as the silence on her status was broken. It's lovely to see an RAF-schemed Mustang, and here's hoping that she will really be able to stretch her legs in 2015.

Next up this week is a beautifully composed shot of this Middle Wallop-based Army Air Corps Lynx AH7 seen landing at London Heliport. These venerable machines have a matter of months left in service, and should be cherished whilst they're still around. We loved the lighting of this shot, together with the urban background. Those AH7s will certainly be missed once they finally bow out of service later this year!

Here's something you don't see every day. A Swiss airline A320 in formation with the Patrouille Suisse. Captured in superb style with a truly beautiful backdrop, there's not much more we can say about the photo that does it justice! Note that two of the Patrouille Suisse F-5E Tiger II aircraft are standard airframes, as opposed to ones in the team's colour scheme, reportedly due to maintenance issues and a lack of usable spare painted airframes.

Some lesser seen French Falcons are up next. Andy shot these French Dassault Falcon 2000LXs as they came through Dinard. Taken during the aftermath of what looks like a pretty nasty bit of weather, Andy managed a shot of contrasts that worked perfectly with the dark and moody background.

Further international stuff features now, with Robin's beautiful angle on this based C-160 Transall of the German Luftwaffe. Robin was present at Landsberg Air Base to catch a few local movements, including 50+48 seen here in an atypical overall white colour scheme (as opposed to the green and black camouflage on most).

To the USA at number six for a master class in composure, and finding those angles that just feel right. Simon was present at the Oregon International Airshow 2014 and came away with a set of images to be proud of. We could have picked any from his thread to fill this spot, but we enjoyed seeing something different. The wonky angle shows a fine eye indeed. We do love a Mustang... (and the P-51's not bad either!).

Phil will be well-known to many on UKAR, and the enthusiast's community in general, for his tireless work at organising the much-loved series of Northolt nightshoots. It appears, however, that nightshoots aren't his only contribution to our hobby. He also has a truly impressive array of historic "Golden Oldie" photographs, and it would be wrong of us not to include one of those shots this week. As per many of the threads that feature a shot in POTW, it was difficult to choose, but something kept dragging us back to this awesome shot of a USAF Starfighter. We do recommend looking at the rest of the thread for a trip down memory lane for some, and an education for others. Rose-tinted spectacles, indeed. We hope that Phil has some more up his sleeve that are yet to be posted. We would also add out thanks to Ruislip Rustler for taking the time to post them with Phil's consent.

Pictures Of The Week

Week 3, January 2015

Clockwise from top left:

Mathias opens this week's POTW with a photo from his set of air-to-air images of a German Army UH-1D Huey of Einsatzgruppe SAR based at Landsberg-Penzing Air Base, in Southern Bavaria. We chose this image as we felt it encapsulates the mountainous environment of the Bavarian Alps that the squadron often operates in and with the aircraft breaking away from the photographer, this image features a sense of the dynamism that their work demands.

A recent trip to Albacete had two main goals for Tom, to test out his new lens and also to capture some of the movements ahead of the ill-fated TLP exercise. However, one of the highlights of the visit came unrelated to TLP. With Albacete being home to the Airbus Helicopters Delivery Centre, from which a Spanish Army Tigre lifted, prompting a quick trip around to the other side of the base for Tom's party resulting in the opportunity to capture this fresh from factory example which posed for the gathered photographers for a period of around 10 minutes. Providing Tom with a great opportunity to test out his new lens.

Next up is our third image of the week featuring an Army helicopter, this time of a more local origin. With the Lynx's retirement from Army service looming Rich set himself the task of capturing one in Snowdonia while the opportunity is still available. As with the image by Mathias of the German Huey, the diffused light of the overcast sky enhances the cold and menacing feel offered by the snow and harsh terrain of the mountain side.

The fourth helicopter image, of a rotary heavy POTW, comes from an air-to-air shoot that Filip conducted over Warsaw last June for SkyPoland featuring one of their Robinson R44s. The series of images posted by Filip shows various locations used as part of the shoot, however, the warmth this particular image evokes with the riverside embankment lit by the summer sun seemed the perfect choice for inclusion to juxtapose the snow covered mountain backgrounds that have already been featured.

Last summer Alex made his first visit to the Mach Loop and was rewarded with plenty of activity during his two day stay, including this Tornado GR4 from 41 TES Squadron. We loved the composition of this image, with the speed of the aircraft prevalent as it moves through the frame.

Stuart Freer's posts in the Golden Oldies section are always a real treat to take a look through, especially in the long winter breaks without any airshows to keep us entertained, and his latest post is no exception. The photographic collection of past UK deployments of B-52s featured many images worthy of POTW inclusion, however the operational nature of this image, featuring members of the 28th Bomb Wing at RAF Marham, made it our favourite.

During Tom's first time photographing the action at Heathrow, and indeed first time shooting commercial aircraft, he enjoyed some crisp winter light. The image shows a Vrigin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 climbing away from the airport, an aircraft that Tom feels has a certain charm that some of the others that he shot at Heathrow lack.

Pictures Of The Week

Week 2, January 2015

Clockwise from top left:

More Eagles take the top spot this week, and what a way to start! With the well-documented tensions to the East of Europe and Russia arising this time last year, the NATO "Baltic Air Policing Mission", a collaboration of air policing of the Baltic States taken on rotations by the NATO partner nations, was stepped up a gear. Seen here in April 2014, a pair of Lakenheath F-15Cs performed a spectacular break for the cameras on a air-to-air photography mission.

The much famed No. II(AC) Squadron now has a new mount for the future. Seen here emerging at RAF Leuchars in some rather lovely light, is the first II(AC) Sqn marked Typhoon. As much as we're sad to see the Tornados go, it's gratifying to see that the numberplate living on into the future, and very much into a new chapter of its history.

Some more lovely mid-winter sunlight features next, painted perfectly onto an RAF Benson Merlin HC3A. Times are a-changing for the Merlin force, what with the standard HC3s wearing "Royal Navy" marks as part of their transition (replacing the much-loved "Junglie" Sea Kings) from the RAF to the RN, it seems like they don't get out as much as they used to. All the better, then, that we see shots like this on our forum.

Jack and Tom's images have come on in leaps and bounds since they first dipped into aviation photography. In one of their best shots to date, they presented us with this moody capture of an Emirates A380 making a pretty decent effort at drying the runway at Manchester. Certainly evidence that interesting and unique images can be had, even in the most inclement of conditions, if one puts their mind to it.

The really big blow to military aviation this week was the announcement of the USAF's proposed withdrawal from RAF Mildenhall. It's upsetting for a whole number of reasons, reasons that we don't need to go into here. In such times, it is only fitting to celebrate the Suffolk base, and the memories associated with it by dusting off some old photos of years gone by. The king of "Golden Oldies", Stuart, did just that by producing a wonderful shot of this Sea Harrier at the 1986 Air Fete. All good things come to an end, indeed.

Daniel took a road trip this winter, and caught up with several museums and classic collections. We had plenty to look at with shots from Duxford, Cosford, Bruntingthorpe and Coventry, but we felt that the wintry conditions were perfectly captured in this shot of the three immaculate-looking Buccaneers at Bruntingthorpe.

We've had a lot of decent shots from Scotland recently, and this week is no exception. Showing two SAAB relatives (340 in front, 2000 behind) taxiing at Aberdeen Airport nearly a year ago in February 2014, we enjoyed the simple creativity in the shot, and it certainly stood out: no heavy editing required, simply a well-composed and well-thought shot. Mark's fine eye for photography has paid off yet again, it seems!

Pictures Of The Week

Week 1, January 2015

Clockwise from top left:

UKAR has been fortunate enough to see countless shots of Lakenheath F-15s over the years, and therefore images have to be quite special indeed to set them apart from the rest. One such special image is Mark's fabulous angle and pin-sharp shot of this Strike Eagle cleaning up after a missed approach at its Suffolk base in some brilliant light. In our mind, there's no better image with which to set the bar as we kick off POTW in 2015.

To warmer climes and warmer times, next, with POTW regular Tomasz's portrait shot of this Slovakian MiG-29 "popping flares" whilst displaying at the 2014 "NATO Days" in Ostrava. An excellent show, for sure, with plenty of gems both flying and static in addition to this most infamous Soviet-era fighter.

We do love the classics on UKAR, and even more-so when those classics are flying in this day an age. Taken at the Wings Over Houston show in 2014, we loved this shot that captures the brutal elegance of the F-100F Super Sabre in the scheme of Bud Day's jet; "Misty 1", which now resides with the Collings Foundation, based at Houston.

There have been some been interesting movements and developments in the civilian world, too. Recently, an ex-Thomas Cook 757, now belonging belonging to SF Airlines, was rolled out of the paint shop at Norwich with a fantastic new scheme, and Matt was on hand to capture the moment. Certainly its European counterparts could learn a thing or two in designing liveries from the Chinese carrier.

We'd be remiss this week not to note the marine surveillance quietly happening up north. With the UK's MPA capability lacking somewhat (to put it mildly), the US Navy has had small numbers of Orions based at Lossiemouth since just before the New Year, reportedly looking (or tracking) a certain Russian submarine sneaking around north of Scotland. Seen here launching on another mission, Alan has captured the P-3C in some beautiful and crisp light.

Other happenings north of the border recently include the rotation of A-4 Skyhawks to and from Wittmund. The much-loved and rarely seen blue and white "BAE Systems" ones have now headed back over to the US, to be replaced by the much more tactical looking, and beautiful, A-4Ns flying from Canada. Prestwick can be difficult at the best of times, but in one of those rare moments, the clouds parted and allowed Michael to capture the machine in some gorgeous mid-winter sunlight.